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Chapter thirty-two: Ingleis, Part 2
I walk through the corridors of the indoor mall with delight. I feel as though I have had a huge burden taken off my shoulders. For the first time in weeks, I am wearing clothes again. It's not strange to see some Pokémon wearing clothes and, even if it was, I wouldn't care; I am tremendously happy to be wearing them, even if I'm still a Pikachu.
Alongside me is Rigel and his family; his father is taking us to a restaurant on the second floor of the mall to eat for lunch. This section of the mall is home to several gourmet restaurants and is full of people at the moment. We arrive at a particular restaurant that is screaming nineteen-fifty décor: the sign reads, Bobbysoxers.
When we enter we are greeted with smooth crooner music from the fifties and employees that are dressed in the fashion of that era. In front of us are two kitchens: one specializing in food for people and one specializing in food for Pokémon. The family manages to find a place to sit and talk to take time off the fact that we have to wait longer than expected. We wait to be seated for almost forty minutes. Finally, we are taken to a table next to a window which has the view of the city outside. It's raining outside and by the looks of it: it will stay that way all day.
Our waitress brings seat boosters for me and Orion. It seems rather weird and insulting for me personally at first, since I don't want to be treated like a toddler; however, I forget about it all together since I can now see the table in front of me. The waitress sets down menus on the table for us.
I don't hear this but the waitress says, "Welcome to Bobbysoxers! Can I get you all something to drink?"
Something on the menu catches my eye: Muenster cheese sticks…I am very curious to try it.
"How about you Lucas?" Rigel asks. I point at the picture in the menu and he laughs, "Well he already knows what he wants. What do you wanna drink buddy?"
I turn the pages till I see a picture of a particular drink I liked as a human: Oran Berry Smoothie.
"He wants the Oran Berry Smoothie." He turns to face me again, "And you wanted the cheese sticks as well right?" Rigel asks with a little bit more inflection so the waitress can hear.
"Is that all for now?" The waitress asks. We all nod.
"I'll be right back with your drinks." She says before leaving.
As she leaves I start to feel strange. It hasn't occurred to me until now that everything I'm experiencing today, from shopping to sitting on this seat, is very different from the one I'm used to. I've become dependent and reliant on these people, and I'm not sure what to truly think about it. I couldn't go to these places alone or go shopping, or eating, as I used to, but I wouldn't have to worry about other things either since I am under the watchful eye of Rigel's parents. I try to forget about it by distracting myself: I start to look around before I say softly, "Man…a lot has changed around here."
"Since you last came here?" Orion asks.
"This restaurant, let alone this mall, wasn't here several years ago. This entire street was under construction when I left to live in the Sinnoh region." I explain, "I didn't come back till recently."
"You had close contact with your family while away right?" He asks.
"Of course…" I retort, "I know my brother is at the border between Kanto and Johto, but I'm not sure when my brother is coming home. As for my parents…well, they are at home…waiting for me…or they're probably searching for me, I wouldn't doubt it."
"Wait, why is your brother near Johto?" The Pikachu, with curious eyes looking at me, asks.
"He's stationed there. Basically he's guarding the entrance into the region, making sure no one gets in without permission." I chuckle to myself, "This reminds me when I talked with Jen before I left." I say to myself very quietly.
"But…why?" I hear Orion say, tilting his head sideways, eagerly waiting for me to answer.
I sigh softly, "There was a war Orion, things went bad here."
"A war?" The Pikachu expects an explanation.
"Well…to make a long story short: Johto split apart from us and became its own independent country, and it made sense since it's sort of blocked off by mountains that separate both regions."
"Who won?" Orion asks.
"Nobody really. Johto signed a peace treaty with Kanto, but under the condition that they don't pass the western mountains as long as Johto provides a share of their economy. That was more or less two decades ago, and Kanto and Johto still have a tense relationship with one another." I cross my arms.
"Wow…are you really that old?" Orion asks, and I'm not sure if he's being sarcastic or not, "What were you doing during all this…?" He asks.
The waitress comes back with several drinks for us and places them on the table with diligence. In front of me is a small blue cup with a straw in it. I pick up the unusually small cup and I drink from it…and then I feel ecstasy take over, "Wow…It's just as good as the Oran berries inside the forest." I smile happily, looking at the cup with delight, "This smoothie never tasted this good when I was human!"
"That's because Oran berries are meant more for Pokémon, you goof." The mouse retorts tauntingly.
I set the half-full cup down on the table, "Well anyway, what were you asking me?" I look at Orion.
"Not sure…ah!" Orion's ears perk up before he says, "You were just about to tell me what you did during the war."
"Oh…well…I was ten and I was eager to start my Pokémon adventure. My brother was going to follow me on my journey and teach me about battles…" I stop for a moment, "I looked up to him for almost everything…but he never did teach me about Pokémon…because he was drafted."
"Drafted?"
"He was forced to fight in the war, same as my father."
"Forced?" Orion says softly.
"My mother suggested I stay with her, but, despite my fears, I was eager to start my journey without my brother." I take a sip of the drink before I continue, "The day I was supposed to receive my first Pokémon, I left my house and walked down a dirt road to the lab, which isn't far away. I saw vehicles pass by me and on them I saw soldiers…with rifles, ready to shoot. At that point I didn't know if those were our soldiers…or Johto's. I tried to act confident but I wasn't dumb, I knew things were getting bad. I was actually too scared to travel alone, so…I turned around and headed home quickly, never looking back. I never got my first Pokémon that day, and I never started my journey because of that."
The Pikachu finishes his drink and moves it aside with his paw, "So then how do you know about Pokémon moves and battles for that matter?"
"My mother and I went to watch gym battles a lot, and I would also watch matches on television too. Basically, Instead of becoming a trainer, I became an observer. I learned a lot just by hearing the trainer's give commands to their Pokémon and commentators giving an analysis of the battles."
Orion nods in understanding as the waitress returns. She appears to be carrying two plates: one for me and one for the rest of the family. She sets them down on the table. I inspect the food in front of me.
"Do you all need more time?" The bobbysoxer asks, and the others nod, "Alright." She walks away.
The breaded sticks look good and are quite inviting. The smell enters my tiny black nostrils and I immediately want to try them.
"That looks good!"
"Here."
I kindly pass one to Orion who takes it and we both try at the same time. As soon as I bite into the hot cheese stick, a heavenly feeling takes over me. I mean…it's just like any other cheese stick, but the cheese is so invigorating! I can't explain it but the taste is just so much better now that I'm a Pikachu. It's probably because I'm a mouse now? I'm not sure. But, as soon as the waitress comes back I beg to have another set of cheese sticks.
Eventually, the entrees come, our drinks are refilled, and I am ready for my main course: breaded cheese sticks!
"Beef Udon! Yum!" Both Rigel and Orion say as they devour their plates with chopsticks. In just a time span of a few minutes, our plates are loaded with remnants of what used to be food on them. We all sit back and sigh with relief.
"That was great!" Rigel says as Orion looks up at him and nods. He accidentally burps and we all laugh.
…
After having a rather luxurious dinner we left the restaurant and headed downstairs. Next to the mall outside is a small park where people can walk through, but it's raining outside. For that reason, we continue to walk around the mall for a while more. George takes us to a part of the mall that looks like a marketplace with indoor trees on both sides. Many people pass us while others buy merchandise from stands. Some stands have food on display, yet most of them have different kinds of merchandise such as good luck charms, bobbleheads, lucky cat figures, and traditional masks to buy.
We pass by a food stand, but I stop and turn around. My nose is overwhelmed by the scent coming off from the stand. I've just eaten, but I can't help myself. I make it to the stand and I call for the others. Once they see me, I jump up and down repeatedly while pointing toward the food above me. May looks at her husband and laughs. George says, "Alright, if you want some for later, that's fine." He stops next to me and buys a half a pound of Munster cheese for me: to which I jump happily in response.
A little later, Rigel finds interest for one of the stalls near the exit of the marketplace. He stops the group and looks at the items on display. After a brief moment he kneels down and brandishes something to Orion and me. He appears to be holding two necklaces that look similar to an Omamori: one gray and one blue.
"Check these out! They're good luck charms. They protect the wearer from many things." He says, "Try this on, Orion." He places the blue charm over Orion's neck and the Pikachu brandishes it to me, "Cool!"
Next, the teen places the gray charm over my neck, "You like it?"
I hold the small charm with my small paw, thinking about its relevance. It's been deeply imbedded in our society that these charms work against all forms of evil and harm, but…I've never had one myself. Maybe I should have had one before I came to Kanto. Maybe they do work, only one way to find out.
I nod to the boy and he stands up, "Can we buy them?" He asks his father as the man asks in return, "Well, why do you want charms for them specifically?"
"Because of the trip we're going to make to Bill's cottage of course!" Rigel retorts.
"Rigel, we have charms back at the house that they can wear." George responds.
"But not specifically for Pokémon! This is just in case! It's cheap and they work!" Rigel spurs out.
"…alright, I'll buy them but this is the last thing we're getting today." George folds his arms, "Look Rigel, I know you're still getting over your experience with Team Rocket, but I can assure you they will never lay their hands on you again-"
"You don't know that!" Rigel voice retorts louder than before, "Some of them look like ordinary people! They're probably watching us right now! Please understand how much this means to me!" He takes a deep breath before he brushes his hair in response, "I'm sorry…I don't want to lose him again."
George doesn't get angry by the outburst that unfortunately gathered other people's attention. Instead, he hugs Rigel as May does the same, "It's okay, I'm sorry too Rigel."
I look down at the ground and think to myself: Rigel was right. Cy didn't wear traditional black with the R symbol like all the other Team Rocket Grunts; he wore casual clothes presumably to blend in.
The sheer thought of undercover Team Rocket members worry me. As the family hugs, my ears rise before I turn to face the opposite way from everybody. I start to feel extremely nervous as sound around me becomes faint. There appears to be people watching me specifically; they are staring at me, watching my every move and they won't stop staring at me! It's as if…they all want to abduct me!
"Lucas?" I hear someone say. I shake my head as my disoriented state slowly goes away. I stammered for a brief second before replying, "Sorry…listen Orion…I…I think we should go." I say softly to him, "Any one of these strangers can be a Team Rocket Grunt in disguise…" I retort.
Orion raises an eyebrow and folds his arms, "Oh come on, don't be silly."
"Oh yea? What about Cy…what about the girl that shoots fire? They didn't wear uniforms." I retort again.
Orion stays quiet for a few moments, obviously thinking about what I just said; however, just before he is about to respond George kneels down and says, "Come on you two, we're going home." He stands up as he and his wife escort Rigel out of the marketplace as we follow next to them. We leave the mall to see that the rain has subsided slightly and is now a light drizzle. We enter the car and George drives this time. As he drives, May turns to Rigel who's sitting at the back seat with us again, "Feeling better?" She asks as the boy nods.
"We'll just get back, relax, watch some movies, and not worry about any of this, okay?" George says.
The car enters the highway, leaves the center of downtown Viridian City, and makes its way back to the rolling hills where Rigel's house is located. Once we enter the neighborhood, another car follows us. It turns out however that this car has been following us since we left the mall; unbeknownst to us, it also so happens to have Team Rocket grunts inside and they're dressed as ordinary people. One of the grunts is in fact the waitress that served us at Bobbysoxers...and they're awaiting new orders.
…
Well guys, I hope you're having a wonderful summer. My summer will end soon, so I will upload one more chapter before the fall semester begins. Until next time, take care!
